Rod Beck was the real deal

Mike Nadel

Monday

Jun 25, 2007 at 12:01 AMJun 25, 2007 at 7:55 PM

Mike Nadel's best of The Baldest Truth

MIKE NADEL: Rod Beck was the real deal

CHICAGO — With the passing of Rod Beck, the sports weekend ended on a sad note. In The Baldest Truth (www.thebaldesttruth.com), I blogged about that as well as the Cubs' sweep of the wilting White Sox.

SHOOTER REMEMBERED

Fans will remember Beck as the chubby, Fu Manchu-wearing, scraggly-haired, wild-eyed closer who would let his right arm rock back and forth like a metronome as he glared in at the catcher for a sign. They’ll remember him for his 51 saves in 1998, when the Cubs were the N.L.’s wild-card team. He pitched on guts and guile because he lacked the big fastball possessed by most closers.

I'll remember “Shooter” for his sense of humor as he delivered lines such as this all-time classic: “My weight isn’t a problem; I’ve never seen anyone on the disabled list with pulled fat.”

The last time I spent time with Beck was in 2003, when he was trying to make a comeback with the Cubs’ Triple-A team and I went to Des Moines to do a column on him. He was living out of a motor home behind the ballpark, and he routinely invited members of the grounds crew to join him for a beverage or three.

Lighting a Kool and wearing a T-shirt reading, “YOU’RE KILLING MY BUZZ,” Beck gave me a grand tour of his Winnebago. He had a rooftop satellite dish, two TVs, a VCR, a stereo, a microwave, a stove, a coffee maker and a bedroom with a double bed.

“And there's a porcelain john,” Beck said proudly, tapping the toilet base with the toe of his shoe. “It ain't one of them cheap, plastic things.”

There was nothing plastic about Beck, either. He was the real deal, a genuine guy who treated people the way he wanted to be treated. He was an ideal teammate, and I’m not sure I’ve seen a player more popular in the Cubs’ clubhouse.

Shooter was one of my all-time favorites. He was only 38 when he died Sunday, a sad day for baseball.

CHATTING WITH FONZIE

With fan All-Star balloting nearing its end, Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano had a 120,000-vote lead for the N.L.’s No. 3 outfield spot. That fact led to this fun exchange between us:

Me: Do you know who's fourth?

Soriano: I don't know.

Me: Barry Bonds.

Soriano: Wow. The guy that go for king of the homers? That means a lot to me.

It also means the guy that go for king of the homers is even less popular than I had thought.

LOU ON LOU

A couple hours before Friday's 5-1 victory over the White Sox, Lou Piniella was on a roll talking about the challenges of being the Cubs manager.

“We've had our ups and downs,” he said. “Actually, we've had a few more downs than ups.

“We’re basically a very competitive team that hasn’t learned how to win yet. That can change quickly. You’ve got to be able to fight through this thing.”

Fighting is one thing the Cubs have been able to do. Often. With opponents. With each other. With umpires.

Piniella was asked if he regretted talking about winning the World Series when he took the job.

“What was my job coming in here?” he asked. “Saying we’re going to compete? Saying we should have a decent ballclub? My job was to be as positive as possible and get my team to feel that way.

“The biggest job a manager has here is changing the culture. If I don't succeed . . . there will be a new staff here in a (short) period of time and they’ll be talking about the same.”

He was asked if his style has clashed with some players. When I heard the question, all I could think was: Jeesh, I would hope so. One of this team's problems was that too many players had gotten too comfortable under Dusty Baker.

“Look, it's not the easiest thing for a manager to explain losing,” Piniella said. “I could be stoic and say, ‘It just didn't work out today.’ But I care. I want to see the players do well and I want to see this team win.

“I didn't come here just to finish my career and make a little more money and then just leave. Lou wants to see things done right. That's all Lou wants. You do things right, you win baseball games.”

Fair enough.

What Lou says about Lou — and about Lou's team — goes. Right, Lou?

QUOTABLE:

“A couple weeks ago, Louie was the worst manager in baseball. He beats the White Sox with a squeeze play in the ninth, and he's a genius again.” — Ozzie Guillen.

“I don't really pay attention to what people say about me, but I’ll tell you this: I haven’t won this many games in the big leagues because I'm a dummy.” — Lou Piniella.

“And in San Diego, Michael Barrett just punched Greg Maddux right in the face.” — ESPN anchor John Buccigross playfully signing off SportsCenter on Friday night.